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Aidan O’Connell brings Big Ten West to NFL with Christmas Day performance
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Aidan O’Connell was built for days like Monday, forged in the fire that is the Big Ten West.
On Christmas Day, O’Connell quarterbacked the Las Vegas Raiders to a 20-14 win over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs despite failing to complete a single pass over the last three quarters of the football game. In doing so, they became the first NFL team to win a game since 2000 without completing a pass after the first quarter.
They also became only the fifth team to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium without scoring an offensive touchdown.
Las Vegas Raiders QB Aidan O'Connell did not complete a pass in 3 entire quarters and the Raiders beat the Chiefs 20-14.
1Q: 62 passing yards
2Q: 0
3Q: 0
4Q: 0Never seen that before
— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) December 25, 2023
The Raiders punted six times in nine real possessions. They kicked two field goals and went 0-for-3 in the red zone. The last possession of the game was solely to run out the clock.
O’Connell finished his day 9-for-21 for 62 yards. The Raiders went 3 for 12 on third down. And they had seven fewer first downs than Kansas City.
But Big Ten West alumni are simply unkillable — unshaken by offensive famine, unflappable in the face of stacked boxes.
“That’s why it’s a team sport,” O’Connell said after the game. “It was a team win.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.